Elm Creek Reserve Dog Park

$35 annual permit (expires Dec 31) or a $5 day pass in the parking lot

Restrooms:

Yes

Park Size:

29 acres

Type of Park:

Fenced

Other Notes:

This dog park has a pond, trees, trails, and benches. Dog park permits can be purchased online or at the Park District Administrative Center, Cleary Lake Visitor Center, Lowry Nature Center or Eastman Nature Center. At the time of purchase of a permit, an agreement of the dog park rules must be signed. The annual fee will get you a parking permit and a dog park pass.

I have two Siberian Huskies and a rough Collie. We go here 3-4 times a week! The trails are well kept and the scenery is beautiful. They have gravel down on the trails now for the wet days, and I love this park year round. Only thing, if any, is I wish there were more cans for disposing of potty bags. They are only at the gate, and the park is huge, so sometimes you have to carry it a LONG ways. But both my dogs and I love this park to the max! I love that my exercise needing dogs are able to run and jump and play, while I get my exercise walking the trails without killing myself or holding them back.

I love taking my golden to this place. Lots of really fun loving animals and great people as well. The only downside is one pit bull that apparently takes great pleasure tying to digest my golden. I believe the name I hear being screamed out loud is Tellie. Outside of that, great place to exercise for both owner and pet.

The outer bigger loop if u walk on the 10 foot wide trail makes a 0.7 mile loop. The highlight of this place is a smaller fenced in area which has a pool ( I'm lying a good sized swamp, a clean swamp). The pool is in an area that has about a 0.3 mile perimeter. There are a couple of picnic tables to sit and enjoy watching your 4 legger cool off. I watched a blue heron and egret ,maybe not a bird expert, hunt on the far end of the pond one day.

In the bigger loop I'm sure you could hike 80 miles through smaller trails but due to wet spring / summer the trails didn't get attended too.

Awesome park woods, grassy fields, picnic tables every where, lots of water bowls, and of course the pool swamp.

Holly,how could your dog become afraid of "humans" if "attacked" by other dogs as you see it? We live in a society and with that there are good and bad dog owners that go to these parks!!! Move on!! If you want your dog to be a therapy dog take him to a nursing home not a dog park!!!!!

Tony, I completely agree with everything you said. It is so unfortunate that many well mannered and well socialized dogs get abused at dog parks by unruley, untrained and unsocialized dogs. My dog has been attacked at parks as well and I am amazed at the contempt that comes from their owners. I am training my dog to be a therapy dog working with special needs children and I have given up on dog parks as a means of socialing him. It is far to detrimental to his overall well being and it is not worth the risk of "ruining" him and causing him to develop fears of other dogs or people because of being attached at the dog park. I find it a great shame that the innocent ones miss out on what is meant to be a good time, simply because of a few bad eggs and their bad owners.

My wife and I usually visit the dog park at Minnehaha Park in Mpls, but I happened across this web site during a search for other Twin Cities parks closer to home in the NW Metro. I have to say I'm a little disappointed in some of the "dogs will be dogs" comments concerning overly-aggressive and unruly dogs at dog parks. That you are taking your dog to a designated "dog park" doesn't limit or negate your level of responsibility as it relates to your dog's behavior. In fact, under the circumstances, it commands MORE responsibility. It is incumbent upon every dog owner to socialize and train his or her dog. That necessarily means starting it early by introducing it to other dogs and people when it's still a puppy. That necessarily means training it through obedience school or at home according to accepted principles.

In our last five visits to either the Minnehaha park or the dog park in Bloomington, our dog has been attacked three times by dogs that have not been adequately socialized. You can say "dogs will be dogs" all you want, but ultimately the responsibility is yours, not the dog's. And I find it a little beyond a coincidence that the unruly, untrained, unsocialized dogs at these parks are usually owned by the type of person who refuses to accept responsibility for anything -- you know who you are. And, in closing, if you're going to buy a rotweiller or pit bull, please don't name it "Caesar," "Diesel," or "Diablo." You are a cliche and the rest of us laugh at you.

Let me just preface this by saying, I really enjoy this park and I have been going to it for many years, rarely having any problems..."Control your Dog!"...you hear this from some owners at the dog park. When I hear certain owners say this to other owners I find it presumptuous and it frustrates me. To make it worse, when they utter that statement, there is usually anger or attitude along with it..Which makes the encounter worse. I am no saint, I have never personally said "control your dog to anyone", but a couple times have had it said to me in a manner I did not like and I said some things back I am not very proud of. I understand what the rules say but...no dog is perfect and in a setting like the dog park it is extremely hard for even well trained dogs to listen. The dogs are off-the leash and their senses are in overload. Most are "city" dogs where they do not get to run and interact like this everyday. You can turn to talk to someone and they will take off and be 50 yards ahead of you in no time. Weekends here can be busy and chances are, overtime, you are going to have dogs who are not going to get along. This does not mean they are bad dogs. Dogs are very unpredictable in this setting, its hard to know what triggers bad behavior. Dogs who are normally always nice and playful, can be scared, jealous,anxious or overly dominate. When an incident happens owners need to understand this. We as owners need to be civil and handle the situation with some common sense and decency. To come to a place like this you have to love dogs. You know going in you will probably get wet, muddy and occasionally jumped on. But, no owner ever wants to see their dog hurt another dog and no one wants their dog to get hurt either. When incidents happen they usually happen so fast it is hard to react if you are not right there. As owners, we need to remember to also "control our behavior" and not let our emotions bring out the worst in us.

I so far have only been to two dog parks so I do not have much to compare to. Elm Creek is really large and offers trails for you and your dog/s instead of just a large area like Egan Park in Plymouth. What I have also found nice is the owners, most of them clean up after their dogs and have them under control for the most part. I myself have two dogs, one is a basset hound and hardly listens when she is playing and the other is a lab who listens when she wants. My dogs do not cause fights but often due get away from me to play with other dogs. So I won't gripe about owners not having control because IT IS A DOG PARK, LET THEM PLAY. I would give this place 5 stars if they put garbage cans throughout the park instead of just at the gate, I carried my dogs waste (multiple bags)for over 30 minutes yesterday. That in itself will deter owners from picking up after their dog.

Our golden retriever ivy was attacked wed nite 10/7/09 by a great Dane, owner didn't acknowledge or apologize, I didn't get a name or number and regret it as she had to be taken in to our vet, given anesthesia, sutured and a drain placed . Another dog owner reported that the same great Dane had attacked another dog on the other side of the park. If anyone was there and could assist with any useful info , thatcwould be great.....please be aware of a great Dane (fawn in colo)

Unruly play is fine with us, but we'll second the complaint about dogs who cannot be kept from "bothering other dogs", as in threatening or starting real fights.

Luckily, almost all of the dogs we've met at Elm Creek Reserve dog park have been a lot of fun to play with, and their owners have helped them with their manners.

We've heard that we should avoid the pond because it's a health hazard--hundreds of dogs playing in stagnant water, and expecting to be able to drink from it. So we just go around the trails--very nice.

There is a smaller dog park near my house that is fenced and doesn't seem like you have to sign your life away to go to (and the rules list is not as extensive (wow!), I think I will stick to that one. Perhaps Maple Grove should offer a class for the dogs so they have manners and behave like good little humans!

You know my dog usually always listens to me, except when there are other dogs around. He gets way too excited about having so many playmates that it is quite difficult to get his attention. This is part of the reason that I bring him to dog parks, so that he plays until he is a tuckered out, then I can bring him home and he is quiet.

I love this park but there are too many dog owners who are not in control of their dogs! What's worse, they don't seem to care if the dogs don't come when called, jump up on other people, bother other dogs, etc.

We have 2 Rhodesian Ridgebacks that LOVE this park. It is HUGE with a trail all around it. There is separate fenced off area in the middle which contains the pond and can keep your doggies from getting too muddy(unless they are small enough to slip through the gate - some do!) There is a large hill for congregating and good viewing of the area. Several picnic tables around. The trial can get quite muddy/icy so you may want to skip it on wet/icy days and just hang on the hill. There is a bag dispenser by the gate (and no where else - so take several!)Also, the garbage cans are pretty much only at the gate. There is a person potty area - never been in - but it is probably suitable for a true need! Pretty impressive fence.